Results tagged “animals”

                  

Last month, we launched our first collaboration with the Washington Humane Society and highlighted a handful of dogs that needed to find a home. The WHS's goal to "increase adoption, decrease the number of animals in need, and teach responsible pet ownership" is one that we truly believe in, and we're happy to report that two of the dogs we featured in October, Tancho and Nina, found homes!! Nina's new owner saw our photos and knew that she was the right dog for their family. She now lives with a family of five, two young children, two adults and another pit bull who is Nina's new best friend. Sumi, the beautiful and smart Akita mix is still at the shelter waiting to be sprung. Kate was diagnosed with heart worms and has been moved to the Washington Animal Rescue League to recover. She will be up for adoption again once she gets better.

Many of you have likely already seen this YouTube video shot by Ephraim and Christy Smethers (and fair warning, it's graphic in the same way that many nature shows are) of a deer being attacked by a lion at the National Zoo yesterday. The deer, which had presumably wandered in to the Zoo from neighboring Rock Creek Park, managed to run inside the lion habitat, and the lions, being lions, went after the young animal like it was a tasty snack.

Another sad death to report at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Merlin, the Zoo's oldest male sloth bear, died this morning after a 48-hour illness, according to a news release. He was 28 years old.

On Monday morning, Nov. 2, he underwent a routine physical examination. Although the examination went well, his anesthetic recovery was prolonged, and he had not returned to normal by the afternoon. While under observation, veterinarians noticed that he had vomited some blood-tinged fluid.

Continue reading "National Zoo's Elderly Sloth Bear Dies"

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo on Friday announced the recent deaths of two scimitar-horned oryx. One female died at the main Zoo campus on Oct. 24, while a male passed away on Oct. 14 at the Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal.

            

The Washington Humane Society pledged in 2006 to find a good home for every adoptable animal. This is no easy task while providing care for over 20,000 animals a year, taking in an average of 33 animals a day at two different shelters. Their goals are to "increase adoption, decrease the number of animals in need, and teach responsible pet ownership." With shelters around the country being forced to euthanize 4 to 5 million dogs and cats a year, we applaud the WHS's efforts to find good homes for the pets of D.C. So we've decided to help by highlighting adoptable dogs and cats in the District. This new column will feature some of the four legged friends who are currently waiting to find a loving family.

     

It's been at least a couple months since we had any new baby animals to coo over at the National Zoo, but the wait is now over! The Zoo recently posted these photos to its Flickr feed of its new dama gazelle calf. The baby gazelle, a girl, was born on Friday to proud parents Adara and Rajih.

The plight of the D.C. urban chicken owner has been a hot topic this year, with a big write-up in the Post about how awesome it is to have fresh eggs, and how much of a drag it is to be forced into adopting a clandestine approach to chicken ownership. Enter Ward 6's Tommy Wells, who, in addition to a chicken in every pot, would like to see a chicken in every backyard. Wells has introduced legislation that would do away with the current regulations, which prohibit fowl within 50 feet of any building “used for human habitation,” the Examiner reports.

The NFL's second most reviled quarterback is in D.C. today, the Associated Press is reporting, in order to speak to local youngsters about how dogfighting is bad. Michael Vick has been making appearances like this in cities around the country since he was released from prison after being convicted of running a dogfighting ring in Smithfield, Va., as part of a Humane Society campaign against the sport. His talk will take place at Covenant Baptist Church in Southwest this afternoon, where a group of area students have been invited to listen. Hopefully any hardcore Redskins fans in the audience have already had their spirits crushed to the point that Vick, now a member of the rival Philadelphia Eagles, won't get booed.

The National Zoo announced way back in April that "Happy," its 28-year-old Nile hippopotamus, would be leaving this year and moving to the Milwaukee County Zoo in Wisconsin. Well this morning we received word that Happy sneaked off in the dead of night on Monday and is already in Wisconsin, arriving at about 3 a.m. this morning. Did we mean so little to you, Happy, that you had to run away like this? Not even a fare thee well?

It was just earlier this week that Prince George's County was warning its residents of a marked increase in rabid bat activity, and now the District of Columbia Department of Health is following suit. The rabid bat menace has reached D.C.'s borders.

Bats can do more than shape-shift and turn you into a vampire — they can also give you rabies! And Prince George's County health officials are now warning residents that they've recorded an increase in rabid bat activity in the area, the Post reports. Nine PG County bats have tested positive for rabies since the beginning of August, and at least one person has come into contact with one and been subsequently preemptively treated for rabies. County officials are urging residents to bat proof their homes by repairing any holes, using window screens and closing doors tightly.

                     

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty presided over the opening of a fabulously-appointed new dog park at 17th and S Streets NW yesterday (along with a refurbished park for all living things at 17th and T, but the focus was clearly on the pooches' new playground). As theses photographs illustrate, the park features a hill-shaped, artificial grass surface and a water fountain designed specifically for dogs.

Written by DCist Contributor Lauren Evans

The Smithsonian's National Zoo has given us plenty of baby animals to coo over this summer, but most of them remain at the Front Royal Conservation and Research Center, not on display to the public at the actual Zoo. So if you're jonesing for some cute and in need of a fix, you might consider a weekend road trip to the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk, where four lion cubs are making their debut today (and don't be confused by the Associated Press's story, which appears to have misidentified the cubs as tigers - they are in fact lions). The baby lions, three boys and one girl named Ajani, Razi, Dakari and Zarina, were born on May 2, and this will be the first weekend that the public will be able to see them in person. They're no clouded leopards, of course, but they'll do in a pinch.

Awww, the Prince George's County Sheriff's department lost one of its dogs. Zoey, a working dog with the department, managed to wiggle out of her collar and ran off about a week ago, according to the Post. Ironically, the dog was trained to find and rescue people. Zoey is 5 1/2 years old, weighs 80 to 85 pounds, and is a black and tan bloodhound. She was last seen near St. Paul's Drive and Piney Church Road in Waldorf.

Bai Yun, the San Diego Zoo's female panda, just thinks she's soooooo great, doesn't she. She's been popping out babies left and right over the last few years, already having had four to our own Mei Xiang's one, and then just to pour salt in the wound, she had to go and have a fifth one yesterday. Well la-di-dah, San Diego. Aren't you friggin' special.

We're working on a Snake Theme here, people. WTOP's Hank Silverberg reports that a house fire in Fairfax County has claimed the lives of dozens of snakes, scorpions, and lizards that were trapped inside cages in the attic when the fire broke out. Resident Zachary Frodge had been breeding the animals, which included "non-poisonous ball pythons, corn snakes, rat snakes, Columbia red tail boa constrictors, bearded dragons and a green iguana," for sale. No humans were injured in the blaze, though the house, which is in the Alexandria section of the County, was pretty badly damaged.

The saga of Molly, the stolen and ultimately returned Logan Circle area dog, has garnered the interest of aggressive animal rights group PETA. The group sent out a press release today urging pet owners never to leave their animals tied up alone outside. From the release:

Molly, the 7-year-old Vizsla who was dognapped after her guardians left her tied up unattended outside a Washington, D.C., Whole Foods store, is one lucky dog: She was returned to her family safe and sound nearly a month after she was taken. Many dogs who are left unattended are sold under the table, used as "bait" in fights involving pit bulls, or suffer other miserable fates. PETA urges guardians never to leave dogs or cats alone outside a store, restaurant, or anywhere else, even for "just a minute." That minute may haunt an animal guardian for the rest of his or her life.

Continue reading "PETA Speaks Up On the Molly Dognapping"

The baby animal cup continues to runneth over at the Smithsonian's National Zoo's Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Va., as they announced today the July 16 birth of a female tufted deer fawn - the fourth species to give birth at the Zoo within the last week. Zookeepers have already started referring to this summer's explosion of births as a "baby boom" of endangered species.

One of the longest comment threads in DCist's history can at last come to a happy conclusion. Molly, the 7 year-old Vizsla who was allegedly taken by a stranger while she was tied up outside the P Street Whole Foods, is back home with her family. Tyler Newby, Molly's owner, last night sent out an email to fellow dog owners in the Logan Circle neighborhood announcing his dog's safe return. Molly seems to be in good health, he said, although understandably tired. Details on the police-involved recovery of Molly from the woman who allegedly took her are scant, Newby said, though an officer did tell him that it was evident the woman had mental health issues. "... we want to offer our most heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported us and provided tips and leads. Without those leads, it's unlikely the police would have had enough information to justify spending time investigating," Newby wrote.

This new video from the National Zoo is edited without any real narrative in mind, but it sure does feature a lot of cute baby animals! Take a look for your first glimpse of the Zoo's new baby red panda, along with video images of the newest clouded leopard cub and the Przewalski’s horse foal.

In our frenzy to celebrate the birth of another fuzzy-wuzzy clouded leopard cub, we failed to report that two other baby animals were also born at the National Zoo in the last few days.

    

What is in the water at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Conservation & Research Center in Front Royal, Va.? Today the Zoo announced that another endangered clouded leopard cub - yes, that's in addition to the two that were born there in March - was born on Friday.

The National Zoo once again rolled out the fanfare for superstar giant panda Tai Shan this morning, as D.C.'s favorite ball of fur (and stick of butter) turned 4. Now a teenager in "bear years," the panda dug into a three-tiered, frozen "cake" made out of water, beet juice, bamboo and fruit that was prepared by Zoo staff. Crowds of onlookers were on hand early this morning to watch the panda dig in to his treat and wish him a happy birthday.

Is someone stealing dogs in Logan Circle?

Think your kids are awesome? Think awesome? Talk to the white-naped crane that was just born at the Smithsonian National Zoo. As We Love DC notes, the Zoo is calling this little chickee "the most genetically important hatchling in the North American White-Naped Crane Species Survival Program." Boo-ya. An endangered species now, owing to the destruction of wetlands in northeast China -- this bird's native habitat -- the birth of a female white-naped crane in captivity is a major boon to efforts to keep this animal's gene pool strong and diverse.

This isn't exactly happening in the D.C. area, but we were so interested to see these incredible wild animal images pop up on the National Zoo's Flickr stream today, we wanted to share them. The Smithsonian's Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program has been around since 1986, traveling around the world working with governments and organizations to, among other things, "provide scientific information and build in-country capacity to foster the sustainable use of natural resources."

It's been awhile, thankfully, since the National Zoo had to answer questions about mysterious animal deaths. Unfortunately, it seems that 11 of the zoo's 18 stingrays and two arowana fish died over the holiday weekend, the Post reports. After they were found Monday morning, immediate testing of the water revealed that levels of dissolved oxygen were too low in the Amazonia exhibit's aquarium. The levels were fixed and the remaining stingrays are doing fine.

Man, the Washington Post really knows how to twist the knife while the wound is still fresh. Just a day after we all learned that the National Zoo's female adult panda, Mei Xiang, wasn't pregnant after all, Postie Michael E. Ruane files a story reminding us that Tai Shan, our beloved stick o' butter who's now all grown up, will eventually be sent back to China. Oh, and that day could come sooner than you think. Thanks, man. You also had something to tell us about Santa Claus, right?

Might want to prepare some brain bleach before clicking through to this story, from Fredericksburg.com, about a Spotsylvania man who was arrested this week 'after admitting to family members he had been "fooling around" with his pet German shepherd.' The charges? Bestiality. The suspect, Robert John Ward, 66, was also apparently a registered sex offender. Highlight of the story: the arrest came only after a veterinarian exam revealed the female dog’s anal glands were swollen. Gaaaah. NBC4 also has the story, and they say Ward's actually being held without bond, which, despite the grossness of the crime, does seem awfully extreme.